much more powerful storm hit earth. If that same storm happened today,

“modern life could come to a standstill 1” During the 1859 flare “...U.S.

enough to set fires, said Ed Cliver, a space physicist at the U.S. Air Force

Research Laboratory in Bedford, Massachusetts.”

A visually spectacular flare being thrown out on April 16, 2012.

Think about it. In the year 2012, how much of our life is totally dependent

on satellites and microchips? Without them, your cell phone would be

worthless. Cable TV would be history. Our military would be back to

WWII-type fighting. Although some small, older airplanes will still get off the

ground most of our modern aircraft couldn't fly. Absolutely nothing with

modern avionics would be working. Your microwave oven and maybe even

your coffee pot wouldn't work.

Do your coffee pot and microwave depend on a satellite? No, but they

ARE run by microchips. Anything that depends on computers or anything

else built with microchips could cease to function. And a solar flare isn't the

only culprit capable of sending us back to the dark ages. Let a large EMP (see

below) fire over north America and my 39 year-old truck would coast to a

stand-still because the electronic ignition would be fried. Our water,

electricity, natural gas and even our sewers are completely or primarily

computer controlled. You couldn't even flush your toilet twice.

An EMP (electromagnetic pulse2) from even a small nuclear explosion could, in the words of the Office of Radiation Protection3 “destroy most of the electronics that were not protected in the entire Continental United States.”

After this effect was discovered by accident, governments all over the world began figure out how to “harden3” critical infrastructures against an EMP. That was a major push behind the development of the internet4.

Various institutions around the country wanted to be able to communicate

even if a few cities were already nuked.

So what can we do to protect ourselves? Are there any measures that we

can take to make sure that our families and ourselves will make it through a

large solar flare or EMP?

Let's face it; the government is going to do or not do whatever they feel

like. And they're probably not going to tell us no matter what they do. For

our personal protection, we're on our own and, although nowhere near

impossible, it's going to be a bit more difficult than you might think. These

days, almost everything is digital and that means microchips.

Let's start with just day-to-day living. We need a roof over our head, food,

water, heat and sanitation. The house is simple, but you need to heat and/or

cool it. You need to store and cook food. You need to wash clothes...and

yourself. And you need to use the camode on a regular basis.

You may already have a wood stove and if you're out in the country you

might have a well and even an old outhouse. If you live in the 'burbs, you're

dependent on city water and sewer. Even in the country, without electricity

your well isn't going to work unless you put in a hand pump. The fan for your

furnace or wood stove won't blow any air and you can forget about the air

conditioner.

To prepare for a 2 to 4 week total power outage, you'll need to get some

water stored; about 1 to 2 gallons per person per day or about 200 to 250

gallons for a family of 4 5. More is better. Any large bucket or basin will

work for personal washing and you can do laundry by hand in the bathtub.

Yes! I know. It sounds hillbilly, but it can be done. I've done it.

Believe it or not, everything you need to survive with no power grid is

readily available close to home and fairly affordable. You can pick up a

porta-potty for camping at the local sporting goods store or even at K-Mart or

Wal Mart. They come with disposable bags which you tie up and store;

preferably a long way from where you sleep and eat. A Coleman stove and a

few tanks of fuel will set you back about $75 and you're set for cooking.

For electrical conveniences you can't beat a 12 volt system. At the local

travel trailer outlet, you can get all kinds of lights, fans and even a small

refrigerator or cooler that run on 12 volts. Marine outlets also have pretty